Are we zombies or zombie slayers?
Introduction
Today, the presence of zombies and zombie slayers is evident in movies, video games, and films. The increased desire to view zombie images on television has led to the rise in horror films. This tendency has compelled many people to question the reasons behind the love for zombies. Are we ourselves zombies or zombie slayers? By analyzing movies depicting zombies and zombie slayers, the concept behind their creation is parallel to some flaws of humanity. In this essay, I intend to argue that we are zombie slayers because we watch zombie slayer movies despite the disturbing nature of their images.
According to my understanding, a zombie represents someone who possesses unconscious traits and behaves as if they are controlled by someone else. Following the numerous zombie movies and articles read, I have come to understand that zombies are dead people who come back to life without the ability to speak or move easily. While zombies display scary actions characterized by eating and killing, people appreciate the scary feelings they get while watching zombie films.
From a zombie film perspective, I can argue that zombies represent a desire or logging to reconnect with humanity. Notably, human beings are characterized by empathy in their natural settings. However, news outlets and the internet tend to make humans less empathetic. While the empathy of humans is influenced by various aspects, it is however restored in situations where people identify recognizable traits that are bound to connect them.
Human’s empathy is gained when they are faced with situations of pain and suffering. I can relate to this when am watching a scary zombie film were people likely to survive when they come together to fight a common enemy. In this case, it is impossible to disregard the interaction with other humans since it is deemed as a necessity at the time. While I do not spend time thinking about a zombie apocalypse, I possess ideas on how I might handle things in case of such an occurrence.
The desire to survive is a natural human instinct. In this case, humans are instinctively zombie slayers. As people watch others strive to overcome zombies for their survival, they begin to question or assess their capacity to handle similar situations in their lives. As I watch such films, I often try to associate with certain characters who I perceive as having similar characteristics as mine. In most cases, I also look for characters who possess aggressive behaviors towards the zombies. This encounter tends to eliminate empathy, thus causing people to support others in their attempt to liberate themselves from a zombie attack.
The primary objective of zombie movies and films is to instill fear, shock, and disgust through the use of various visual effects. As a result, the films are characterized by the use of death, pain, and suffering. Despite these traits, people continue to watch such films on several occasions. While people are unable to perform the killings observed in the films, watching people fighting and killing zombies and even other humans tends to give them a certain form of satisfaction. This tendency tends to reveal the hidden desire for violence in human beings. In this case, this trait tends to be triggered by the view of suffering and pain, forcing people to abandon their empathetic traits that normally practiced in normal social settings.
The idea of watching zombie movies can be perceived as a way of experimenting in a safe environment. The longing for an occurrence of a zombie attack or apocalypse in real-life settings triggers the desire to view such incidents on a screen. In this case, one can experience the pain and suffering while remaining detached from the occurrences. I relate to this when watching a film where one of my favorite characters is killed by a zombie. In this case, the fact that I get emotional following the death of the character shows how connected people can be to movie characters.
People identify with zombie killers in films and video games due to their desire to possess such characteristics. While societal norms tend to limit what an individual can do in relation to others, most people have natural instincts that trigger violence and aggressiveness. Arguably, if people did not like the pain and suffering as well as fighting zombies, they would not view another zombie film. Our behavioral reaction towards zombies in films tends to be consistent, therefore showing how we can behave given the right circumstances.
People choose to view zombie slayer movies because they desire to be affected by them. Notable, zombie films engage the audience in numerous incidents of pain and suffering, and later provide a solution to the problem. As such, people opt to watch films in an attempt to find the solution to the problems. In this case, the desire to see the end of the zombie attacks compels people to consistently follow the films until the end. Therefore, this hidden desire makes us zombie slayers.
When humans envy other people’s belongings or achievements, they develop hateful and vengeful traits. This trait in humans tends to explain why they can be termed as zombie slayers. Often, I tend to become aggressive and vengeful when another individual act with disrespect towards me. However, after recovering from bad encounters, I assume my initial traits that include empathy. Similarly, I would reveal the same traits if faced by zombies for my survival. While most people tend to be frightened in the face of danger, they are likely to take action against their perpetrators in an attempt to escape the situation. Humans develop vengeance and hate towards others as a form of self-protection.
People are excited about watching their greatest fears being represented in fictional stories. The fictional horrors and imaginary killings deliver moral truism, thus assisting in preparing us for real-life encounters. The continuous learning from the fictions, therefore, results in the development of certain traits portrayed by the zombie slayers. Over time, humans learn how to take action if a similar situation presents itself in their real-life settings. Consequently, I tend to get satisfaction when a zombie slayer kills a zombie in a film. This reaction is, therefore, an indication that I support the actions of the zombie slayer.
While some people find the images disturbing, they possess the ability to direct their attention towards the most desirable details. As I watch zombie slayer movies or films, I often focus on the incidents where the characters kill zombies as opposed to the parts where humans face suffering and pain. The idea of paying attention to certain details in the films is, therefore, an indication of human traits. Notably, people tend to repeat actions that offer satisfaction. In this case, individuals who love watching zombie slayers and films involving a zombie apocalypse are likely to have hidden desires to participate in the actions.
The counter-argument that can be used against my position on this topic is that people are aware that the events occurring in the zombie movies or zombie slayers are unreal and therefore remain distanced. I can, however, argue that people typically support the zombie slayers in the films to eliminate the zombies. Put simply, since they know the events are unreal, they have an opportunity to side with the zombies or even antagonist characters. As such, the fact that people specifically choose to watch the killing of zombies in films expresses their inbuilt instincts to act in a similar manner. As our minds control actions, the psychological desires portrayed when people watch zombie films can be translated into actions in real-life scenarios.
Conclusion
Although humans know that zombie slayer movies are fictional, the desire to experience the events is rooted in their hidden natural instincts. As narrated in the paper, humans are naturally empathetic. However, they tend to lose this instinct when faced with threatening situations, thus compelling them to take action. The desire to liberate ourselves from danger, therefore, reveals our hidden traits. Given this, I argue that since we love watching movies that portray the killing of zombies, we are zombie slayers. From personal experience, I have often developed the desire to help the zombie slayers in films in killing the zombies in order to liberate them from pain and suffering. Consequently, this position can be explained through the observation of social settings where individuals develop vengeance and hateful characteristics when they sense a threat. In this case, this tendency reveals that humans possess hidden traits that appear to be absent in normal life settings.
The idea of supporting zombie slayers can also be explained by the fact that humans show unity during events pain and suffering. Despite the fact that zombie movies portray disturbing images, people continue to consistently watch such films. As such, this behavior can be attributed to their longing to engage in a zombie-killing adventure. While the events in these films are fictional, they reflect the way people are bound to behave in case they are faced with similar situations in real-life settings. I, therefore, believe that the above narration is adequate to support my thesis that suggests that we are zombie slayers because we watch zombie slayer movies despite the disturbing nature of their images.